Assignment task:
Can you please comment on what I did well and what I could have done differently in the following response I wrote? Here is the question I had to respond to: Do you believe that minimum mandatory sentences are an efficient method of determining sentencing? Why or why not? And here is my response: Minimum mandatory sentences are sentences that takes discretion away from sentencing judges. An example of this type of sentence is the three-strike law that was implement in California. Under this law, a person that had three felonies would be sentenced to a life of imprisonment (Worrall, 2018). I do not view minimum mandatory sentences as an efficient method of determining sentencing unless it applies to crimes that are sexual in nature, or violent crimes such as aggravated assault on a pregnant person or murder. Judges still need discretion and that's why some states allow for the judge to downward departure with evidence to support the downward departure. An area that I would agree to the efficiency of minimum mandatory is it removes disparity among sentencings. Minimum mandatory sentences ensure individuals that commit the same crime to receive the same sentence (Nir, Liu, (2022).